Tell Congress: We Must Extend Emergency Unemployment Benefits

December 17, 2013

In this Tuesday, Aug. 21, 2012, photo, job seekers wait in line at a construction job fair in New York. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)

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Thanks to Congress, it’s shaping up to be a bleak holiday season for at least one group of Americans. Because the House of Representatives failed to extend the Emergency Unemployment Compensation program before they left for vacation, 1.3 million long-term unemployed Americans stand to lose their unemployment benefits just three days after Christmas.

Advocates for the unemployed are calling on Congress to extend the EUC when they return from holiday break, and to make the extension retroactive. In the meantime, states have told recipients to continue to file claims after benefits are cut off on December 28, in case Congress does pass the extension.